Zibanejad stars as Sens score 4 late goals, stun Kings 5-3

Thanks to a schedule quirk, the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks had to wait three months into the regular season to start the Freeway Faceoff. In total, the Kings are using $64,266,893 in cap space for 2016-17, with the new Anze Kopitar contract. Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter are the only two players who sit above Kopitar in goals.

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Luke Schenn’s (52) helmet flies off in… “… We didn’t get much from top to bottom today”.

After a scoring slump last season and early this year, Kopitar has been on a tear lately with 16 points in 10 games for the first-place Kings.

Forward Anze Kopitar agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Kings on an eight-year contract extension, president and general manager Dean Lombardi announced Saturday. [But] he’s worth every penny of it. It’s got nothing to do that. “I will still try to be the best I can be and help the team win”.

The 28-year-old center has spent his entire National Hockey League career with the Kings. While the Senators are struggling to score, the Kings have permitted just 15 tallies during their current 7-1-1 run. But with Kopitar’s contract locked in, the only future the team is looking toward now is to the Stanley Cup playoffs and their chances of getting back into the post season. Lecavalier plans to retire this summer, but he’s fitting in well as Los Angeles’ third-line center, playing the Kings’ two-way style and excelling on faceoffs.

Ottawa pulled to 2-1 in the second on Alex Chiasson’s first goal in 26 games.

In 17 years with the Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, he posted 20 goals and 21 assists against Ottawa in 54 contests.

Senators 5, Kings 3: Mike Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan each had a goal and an assist as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-3. Kopitar opened the week by notching one goal and three assists in a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on January 11.

Ottawa defenseman Mark Borowiecki added an empty-net goal at 19:46 to close out the scoring.

“Knowing that we have a winning team here makes you want to stay here for an extended period of time. We definitely can’t be as sloppy as we were”. After the Kings took the lead with Vincent Lecavalier rolling a slow backhand between the wickets of John Gibson- who finished with 23 saves- at the near post, the advantage held for just 33 seconds. Goaltender Craig Anderson stopped 30 shots for the win.

The Kings and Ducks didn’t meet until the 44th game of their respective seasons, but they’ll face off four more times before the postseason.

“I think we were lucky to ever have the lead in the game”, Sutter said.